There's nothing more Cliff's Edge enjoys than a fight and he pummelled the opposition into submission in Saturday's Group III Ladbrokes Manfred Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield.
Ridden by John Allen for champion trainer Darren Weir, Cliff's Edge raced up on the speed before gaining a rails run to fight off Spendthrift Farm's I Am Invincible colt Overshare by a long neck with Snitzel colt Muraaqeb a short-head back third.
Winner of the Group III Ladbrokes Classic and most recently an honourable sixth in the Group 1 Emirates (Mackinnon) Stakes, Cliff's Edge advances his record to 5 wins and 3 seconds from 11 starts with earnings of $625,560.
Weir said the Group 1 Australia Guineas will be the immediate goal although he feels the son of Canford Cliffs will be even better over 20000 metres.
"He's on a Guineas path and it was a big tick today. There are other races if not the Guineas but he looks like he's on track at this stage," Weir said.
"He surprises me in everything that he does because he doesn't show anything like that at home.
"He's a hard horse to get a guide on at home but he's a good horse on raceday."
Weir said the Group III CS Hayes Stakes (1400m) in a fortnight will be the prep for the Group I Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington on March 3.
"I think he's a 2000m horse. I thought he ran great in the Mackinnon and he's a lot better horse now than he was then," Weir said.
"I think rolling along
A $60,000 purchase by Darren Weir Racing / John Foote Bloodstock from session two of the 2016 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, Cliff's Edge is the tenth foal of the Snaadee mare Simulation whose 8 wins ranged in distance from 1100 metres to 3000 metres.
Her previous six winners included the speedy Delago's Lad (Delago Brom) who was stakes-placed in the Listed VRC Maribyrnong Trial Stakes.
Simulation's unraced dam Wodgina (USA) (Verbatim) is a half-sister to the grand racemare All Along a 7-time Group I winner including the 1983 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Simulation died in November 2016. Her final foal is a yearling colt by Danerich, which will be offered by Bucklee Farm at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.
